2016 -- S 2003

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

HONORING RHODE ISLAND FAMILY COURT CHIEF JUDGE HAIGANUSH R.

BEDROSIAN ON HER RETIREMENT AFTER THIRTY-FIVE YEARS OF DISTINGUISHED

AND DEVOTED SERVICE TO OUR STATE AND THE CITIZENS OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Senators Paiva Weed, Ruggerio, Algiere, Lombardi, and Walaska

     Date Introduced: January 06, 2016

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, Chief Judge Bedrosian, the daughter of Armenian immigrants, grew up in

Cranston, Rhode Island. She graduated from Cranston High School East, received a Bachelor of

Arts degree from Pembroke College in 1965, prior to its merger with Brown University, and

attained a law degree from Suffolk University Law School in 1971. After graduating from law

school, she began her distinguished legal career serving as a Special Assistant Attorney General

with the Criminal Prosecution Unit. Early in her legal career she also worked in private practice

specializing in family law, and served as Assistant General Counsel to the Providence &

Worcester Railroad Co.; and

     WHEREAS, Chief Judge Bedrosian was a woman ahead of her time who served as a

trailblazer for the many women who followed her. She forged ahead despite being told by one of

her professors at Brown University/Pembroke College that "Women don’t go to law school." She

was one of only ten women in her class at Suffolk Law School; and

     WHEREAS, Chief Judge Bedrosian became the first woman to serve on the Family Court

bench after being nominated for the position in 1980 by Governor J. Joseph Garrahy. As

Associate Justice she presided over every calendar within the jurisdiction of the Rhode Island

Family Court. In 2010, she became the first woman to lead the Family Court after being named

Chief Judge by Governor Donald L. Carcieri; and

     WHEREAS, Under Chief Judge Bedrosian's direction, the Family Court broadened the

mediation program in the State Department of Children, Youth and Families, and expanded the

Family Treatment Drug Court. Court rules and the forms used to guide the filing process were

also revised during her tenure. In 2013, Chief Judge Bedrosian took the lead in hosting a two-day

conference on sex trafficking and exploitation of children in the child-welfare system. This

conference was attended by a distinguished group of four hundred attendees from law

enforcement, child-welfare workers, clinicians, and investigators from across the state of Rhode

Island. She has worked tirelessly throughout her distinguished legal career to protect the most

vulnerable members of our society; and

     WHEREAS, Chief Judge Bedrosian is a member of many professional associations

including the Rhode Island Bar Association, the National Association of Women Judges and the

Trial Lawyers Association of America. She also founded the Rhode Island Trial Judges

Association and served as its President for several years. Chief Judge Bedrosian was instrumental

in creating statewide standards for guardians ad litem in Family Court cases. She was also a

member of numerous boards and commissions; and

     WHEREAS, Chief Judge Bedrosian was also an accomplished teacher. She taught fifth

grade at Finberg Elementary School in the Brockton/Attleboro School System for six years. She

was also an instructor at Roger Williams College, the University of Rhode Island and Rhode

Island College; and

     WHEREAS, Chief Judge Bedrosian has received numerous awards during her

distinguished career. She received the Sojourner House Service Award in 2011, she was the first

recipient of the Cranston East Annual Distinguished Alumni Award, the Florence K. Murray

Award from the Rhode Island Bar Association, the Cranston Hall of Fame Award presented by

the City of Cranston, and the Armenian Woman of the Year presented by the Armenian Masonic

Degree Team; and

     WHEREAS, Throughout her life she has been a mentor, coach, confidant, friend, and a

highly valued and respected leader in her community, admired widely for her reasoning powers.

She is a woman of deep faith and is devoted to her family, friends and church. It is fitting that the

translation of her first name, Haiganush, means sweet woman; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby honors and congratulates Rhode Island Family Court Chief Judge Haiganush R. Bedrosian

on her retirement after thirty-five years of distinguished, devoted and exemplary service to our

State and the citizens of Rhode Island; and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Honorable Chief Judge Haiganush R.

Bedrosian.

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